Guwahati: The fast-track court established to hear the Zubeen Garg death case has denied bail to Siddharth Sharma, one of seven accused, citing concerns that his release could lead to witness tampering, obstruction of the investigation, and potential flight from the country.
Siddharth, who served as the singer's manager, was present on the yacht when Zubeen died while swimming in the sea on September 19 last year in Singapore. The singer had traveled there to attend and perform at the fourth edition of the North East India Festival.
Fast-track court judge Sharmila Bhuyan had previously rejected the bail petition of festival organizer Shyamkanu Mahanta on April 30, also citing flight risk.
On April 29, the court ordered the freezing of six bank accounts either held by Siddharth or operated by him, after he failed to provide any income source documents or income tax returns to justify large deposits in those accounts.
In its order released on Monday, the court stated that it evaluated the evidence and materials collected by the investigating agency against Siddharth, along with his conduct of absconding by changing his place of stay immediately after arriving in India following the incident. The court considered “the entire facts and circumstances right from the beginning till end leading to the death of Zubeen in drowning in sea water due to heavy intoxication” before deciding the bail plea.
The court declared, “I am constrained to hold that this is not a fit case to grant bail in favour of Siddharth as there are strong incriminating materials against him of his commission of the offence alleged against him and if he released on bail, there is possibilities of influencing the witnesses and hampering of the further progress of the case and there is every possibilities of fly away. accordingly bail prayer of Siddharth is rejected.”
Upon reviewing the entire material on record, the judge noted that it “clearly appeared” Siddharth had first-hand information about the singer’s health issues and had a duty to “look after, monitor and manage” him. However, he took Zubeen to Singapore without a prior medical check-up “as required,” failed to comply with doctors’ directions, allowed him to consume alcohol, and made a “last minute changed room arrangement of deceased with Amritprava Mahanta.” The court further stated that Siddharth did not inform others about the restrictions and directions given by the doctor and “let deceased to enter sea water under influence of heavy alcohol.”
The court also observed that it “clearly appeared” Siddharth misappropriated a large amount of the deceased’s money and invested it in his own profit-making business. Additionally, the court noted that Siddharth kept the singer’s belongings until police seized them after his arrest and did not appear before the investigating agency soon after arriving in India on September 20 last year.
